Howard Walter Bremer

Middleton: Howard Walter Bremer died on October 11, 2013 after a brief illness with esophageal cancer.

He was born in Milwaukee on July 18, 1923 the second child of Walter H. and Lydia (Schmidt) Bremer. He and the former Caryl M. Faust celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary on May 28, 2013.

Howard graduated from Bayview High School in Milwaukee in 1941. He received a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin in 1944 where he was affiliated with Alpha Chi Sigma and was on the staff of the Wisconsin Engineer. He then served in the U.S. Navy on the destroyer, U.S.S. Stickell from 1944 to 1946. After his time in service was completed, he attended the University of Wisconsin Law School from which he graduated in 1949. Following graduation he was employed by the Procter and Gamble Company in Cincinnati, Ohio as their patent counsel. In 1960 he and his young family headed back to Madison where he accepted a position as Patent Counsel for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. He retired officially in 1988, but chose to stay on at WARF as a consultant and continued working there until September 2013.

He was admitted to practice before the Bars of the State of Wisconsin, the Supreme Court of the United States, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the District Court of the Western District of Ohio. He was registered to practice in the Patent and Trademark Office and served on the National Advisory Committee on Patent Law Reform. His professional organizations were many: Wisconsin Intellectual Property Law Association, of which he was president from 1989-1990; the Association of University Technology Managers, of which he was president from 1978-1980 and a Trustee from 1986-1988. For this organization he engaged in extensive national legislative affairs on behalf of the university sector; the Council on Government Relations; Patent, Trademark and Copyright Section of the State Bar of Wisconsin; American Bar Association where he served as committee chairman for a number of years; the American Intellectual Property Law Association, serving as committee chairman. He was on the Editorial Board of the Journal of the Association of Technology Managers for many years and a member of the International Advisory Board of the Journal of Industry and Higher Education.

He was listed in Who’s Who in American Law and Who’s Who in America in 1996-1997. He was the author of many articles and a lecturer on Intellectual Property Law and Technology Transfer.

He was considered the “father of university licensing” by assisting in the passage of the Bayh-Dole act in 1980. It took 20 years to secure the passage of Bayh-Dole. In 2000 he received a Recognition Award from the University Of Wisconsin College Of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the Jefferson Medal from the New Jersey Intellectual Property Law Association in 2006, the Edgewood High School Alumni Appreciation Award in 1990 and the EHS Servant Heart Award in 2012 (with his wife, Caryl).

He was a Life Member of the University of Wisconsin Alumni Association. He served as president of the Edgewood Campus School PTA and was an active parent at Edgewood High School for many years. He served on the EHS Advisory Board from 1971-1980, acting as chairman in 1973 and 1974. He served as chairman of Outdoor Entertainment at EDGEFEST for 16 years.

Besides his wife, Caryl, Howard is survived by four children, Katharine (James E.) Sarbacker of Middleton, Thomas J. (Terry) Bremer of Lisbon, Portugal, Timothy J. (Jacqueline) Bremer and Margaret Becker of DeForest. He is also survived by a daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Bremer of Madison; eleven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a son, William Howard Bremer on July 24, 1987; his parents; his sister, Grace Gourley (Norman) and an infant sister, Annette.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, October 18, 2013 at ST. MARIA GORETTI CATHOLIC CHURCH, 5313 Flad Avenue with Msgr. Michael Burke presiding and Msgr. Gerard Healy concelebrating. Visitation will be from 4 – 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 17 at Joyce-Ryan Funeral Home, 5701 Odana Road, and again at the church on Friday from 10 a.m. until the time of Mass. Entombment will follow at Resurrection Catholic Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Edgewood High School or Agrace HospiceCare. To view and sign this guestbook, please visit: www.ryanfuneralservice.com.